tech zone

getting ready to purchase a reprap kit from tech zone. wondering how the build quality is with the laser cut wood parts, dunno if anyone on here has experience with it, but if you have i'd like to hear your two cents on it.

also, what are the differences in extruders?
-thanks


[cgi.ebay.com]

~morrist

I bought a techzone kit back on 15th May. It took about a month to arrive and it ended up being sent without the extruder because they were having issues with it jamming. Apparently they caught up with Wade at the Maker Faire and after some suggestions from him and some tinkering, they have come up with some improvements and they claim it is now one of the fastest extruders they have seen. I will be receiving mine soon. Techzone's reputation is a bit dodgy right now. I think they are genuinely trying to sort things out, but they are in a bit over their heads. I dont know if they are holding down full time jobs and trying to fill orders in their spare time, but in correspondence with me, they have been complaining about lack of sleep! There are still no "instructions" on how to assemble everything even though their eBay ads refer to the reprap wiki for instructions. Im hoping I can get my techzone kit working well enough to print some parts to replace the more fragile elements of the design (X Carriage, Y 360 and 180 bearing), but time will tell if I can. I have not connected the electronics yet (I was hoping they would be posting some instructions).

I'm waiting a month now for my electronics kit sold on eBay. Granted it's a long way over the atlantic but this is not acceptable. If it's not here by tomorrow I'll ask for a refund.
Really annoying. My WolfStrap has been ready for 2 weeks. I should be building my Mendel by now.

I bought the electronics kit from Tech-zone and I placed the order on 05/07 and the kit was shipped on 05/21. I am pleased with the quality of the kit, they also included a set of cables which I though was a nice touch. I did not install it yet in a working Mendel, but I tested the boards individually and they work. I think the guys at Tech-zone are trying the best they can but are probably overwhelmed right now with the task at hand.

I am impressed with he work they have done on the Laser-cut Mendel, not sure if it's worthwhile in the long run once people start printing RP parts on working Mendel and the price would approach what they are charging.

Ordered once and will never again... Not interested in lies or stories about when they will ship.... Honesty would have been much better.... very poor communication and customer service.... TechZone= FAIL

Same here. I have no problem waiting for stuff if I get a reasonable explanation. These kinds of businesses don't just take off over night.
But communication is almost FREE this day and age so I do expect to be told why I'm waiting. I paid my order may 30th. When I asked about the order 16 days later Kimberly replied it had shipped the same day and she'd send me a tracking number. No explanation for the delay.
Still thats the last I heard. No answer since. No tracking number since. No package since.

Wisely I chose to order through eBay. That leaves me a few more options on how to react if this doesn't change soon.

Generally speaking: I hate when this happens. People with good products and lot's of work invested go down because they fail to manage the simplest aspects of their business. My advice: If you can't organize yourself, don't even start. Let it do someone else and concentrate on production.

But communication is almost FREE this day and age so I do expect to be told why I'm waiting.

Bwahahahahah!

Communication takes quite a bit of mental energy and effort, especially if you want to do so accurately, appropriately, and in a timely manner. As Adrian puts it, he can either "communicate or cogitate", which is the reason we accidentally had a closed dev-list for 5 years. (Only one or two more weeks, and then we're officially "open".)

( Speaking of communication, there's about ... 10 RepStrap/RepRap designs kicking around in the wiki which I should be telling the world about using blog.reprap.org. I'm going to, but it's work. It's fun but takes energy. )

My advice: If you can't organize yourself, don't even start. Let it do someone else and concentrate on production.
This is why Techzone has decided to wholesale to Gil of Botmill.com who will be selling stuff. Plus we've had stuff like "paypal losing an echeck and disassociating something".

---

-Sebastien, RepRap.org library gnome.

---

Remember, you're all RepRap developers (once you've joined the super-secret developer mailing list), and the wiki, RepRap.org, [reprap.org] is for everyone and everything!

I finally received word about my package. Paid may 30th, status request june 15th, package sent june 24th.
25 days of unexplained nothingness
I'm not going to nag about this any more I just thought people should know what they need to expect.

There was a long delay on my laser cut parts, but it's a small company. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if they are selling product and then ordering it from their supplier. Or at the very lease selling product based off the anticipated deliver date to them.

It's pretty typical.

---

repraplogphase.blogspot.com

Where as I got my electronics from them quite fast allowing for Maker Faire, Memorial Day and holidays in New Zealand, and the delights of USPS who still consider the package to be in Blackfoot (19 days after it arrived here). The package also appeared to sit around for 10 days in the USPS offices in Blackfoot before it started to be processed.

David

now everyone that had shipping problems, are you located in the US or inEurope?
i looked up their location and it says its in idaho, which is a few states away from me, so i'm wondering if it would take as long or if it wouldnt make a difference.


~morrist

My tech zone electronic set was lost in the mail, and after 6 weeks Kimberly sent me another one. Then after about 8 weeks (from first order date) both sets arrived in Norway almost at the same time. The packages was stamped from the post office with the same shipping dates Kimberly supplied. (April 28. & May 20.). We decided beforehand that I could buy both sets if they showed up, so I sent a forum PM to Kimberly and received a google checkout request for the second set a week later.

All in all, I'm satisfied with the service tech zone offers. It's not their fault USPS doesn't update their tracking numbers, and misplaces the package for a month. Of course it would be nice to have some sort of order queue system, but it takes time to update such a list, time which is better spent actually packaging the orders, IMHO. Remember we're not dealing with a huge company here, so don't demand the same amount of customer service.

Patience young padawans, RepRap is supposed to be fun

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2010 10:33PM by Nudel.

---

--
-Nudel
Blog with RepRap Comic

Indeed, when you took all the holidays into account the electronics actually only took about 10 working days to get to me from the shipping date that techzone supplied. As I said most of the time seemed to be the package sitting in the USPS depends. And this was to New Zealand.

David

I'm in Germany. But in my case it's not USPS's fault. I got the tracking info now and it showed the pickup date.
At least they did send it with express after beeing so late. The package was in German customs after 3 days.

hey wish id read all this about 6-7 weeks ago when i let this excuse for a company take my cash
no response, 4 lies about different dispatch dates then completly cut contact.
i still dont know whats going on(have a case open in ebay) but it would appear so far they have stolen almost 1000usd from me. DONT GIVE THESE PEOPLE MONEY! if they were upfront about their issues or delay time or dispatch time or EVEN HAD A PRODUCT TO SELL BEFORE PUTTING IT ON THE MARKET i would say look at their wait compaired with everyone elses and make a choice. in my opinion lying about dispatch time to get sales on a project where every other kit has an upfront wait is the exact same thing as false advertising. as it is with a lot of lies before they cut contact and ran im advising everyone to stay away. go to someone who will at least be honest with you. im posting this so no one else gets robbed by them as i dont think i have a chance of my money back now

Tech Zone has been fairly upfront with my order. Yes, it did take about 6 weeks to arrive. But along the way, I was notified of a couple extruder redesigns, and a wait for the stepper motors. I'm chalking this up to the growing pains of a new business.

FYI: Kimberly does not respond to PMs any more.

DanielG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ordered once and will never again... Not
> interested in lies or stories about when they will
> ship.... Honesty would have been much better....
> very poor communication and customer service....
> TechZone= FAIL

Tiberius Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm in Germany. But in my case it's not USPS's
> fault. I got the tracking info now and it showed
> the pickup date.
> At least they did send it with express after
> beeing so late. The package was in German customs
> after 3 days.

Mevo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hey wish id read all this about 6-7 weeks ago when
> i let this excuse for a company take my cash
> no response, 4 lies about different dispatch dates
> then completly cut contact.
> i still dont know whats going on(have a case open
> in ebay) but it would appear so far they have
> stolen almost 1000usd from me. DONT GIVE THESE
> PEOPLE MONEY! if they were upfront about their
> issues or delay time or dispatch time or EVEN HAD
> A PRODUCT TO SELL BEFORE PUTTING IT ON THE MARKET
> i would say look at their wait compaired with
> everyone elses and make a choice. in my opinion
> lying about dispatch time to get sales on a
> project where every other kit has an upfront wait
> is the exact same thing as false advertising. as
> it is with a lot of lies before they cut contact
> and ran im advising everyone to stay away. go to
> someone who will at least be honest with you. im
> posting this so no one else gets robbed by them as
> i dont think i have a chance of my money back now


This is exactly matching my experience I have had so far. I bought one on eBay (paid 13.05.2010), received an incomplete kit about 6 weeks later and on Monday (12.07.2010), I received the missing extruder kit and stepper controller. However, as their documentation is very poor, I am not sure whether the kit is complete now or how to assemble their newly designed extruder. Obviously, they are selling their kit on eBay whilst nearly ignoring all of the core rules for a succesful eBay business: it has to be described properly, they have to deliver quickly, and most importantly, they have to have all the kits in stock BEFORE putting them on eBay.

@ Nudel:

All in all, I'm satisfied with the service tech zone offers. It's not their fault USPS doesn't update their tracking numbers, and misplaces the package for a month. Of course it would be nice to have some sort of order queue system, but it takes time to update such a list, time which is better spent actually packaging the orders, IMHO. Remember we're not dealing with a huge company here, so don't demand the same amount of customer service.

Patience young padawans, RepRap is supposed to be fun

I couldn't agree less. At the end of the day they are trying to run a business, so they want to make a profit and can not be interested in any "entertainment factor" whatsoever. If you bought a new car that proves to be poorly designed and incomplete, and the car dealer himself would neither listen nor respond in any way, what sort of feedback would you leave?

Again, this is a business, and business has nothing to do with patience, fun, white lies and so on:
If your business partners (e.g. suppliers, logistics etc.) prove to be unreliable causing you trouble, then get rid of them as they will only ruin your business. If you have issues with your internal processes, get a quality management system in place (a very basic one would do for them). If you have design issues on your product, LISTEN to your customers and TELL THEM that you're working on fixing it..... I could continue this for another dozen lines or so.... To sum up: just use common sense and don't lie to your customers!

(Just my 2p as a business owner)


Anyway, I was wondering if anyone here got their (Techzone) newly designed extruder assembled and running and/or could post some pics/links to help compensating Techzone's disinterest, please?

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2010 09:20AM by LittleGreenMan.

Hey just a quick update
ebay refunded me as techzone refused to respond to either me or them.
absolute joke
does anyone know where i can buy a kit from a reliable source that would not be too long to ship(just lost 7 wks as it is)
or am i best getting it all indevidually to save time(though this would be quite expense)
cheers
Mevo

Has Techzone basically shut down? I have been trying for roughly a week to talk with someone about the stepper motors in my kit. It looks like they started using different steppers, which would be alright if they also supplied new screws to fit them. I don't seem to have any in my kit and without any contact I have no good way of knowing if I've just overlooked something or not. Up to this point, they seemed pretty good about maintaining contact. I even got two replies in the same day from one of them. Going a week with no response and news of ebay issuing refunds is not good though.

As far as my experience with the kit... I was told when my order would ship but it seems they forgot about it. It didn't ship until a week later when I contacted them asking for a tracking number. I don't yet have the extruder, but I do have everything else. I opted for the "basic" lasercut set. If you are thinking of doing the same, be warned that some of the pieces you have to glue together are not clearly photographed yet. There were enough views for me to fill in the blanks, but not before getting two pieces glued together wrong. Thank goodness my glue stays rather rubbery for a while. I just wedged a utility knife between the parts and split the glue joint. I agree with everyone else that the bearing assemblies need more support. The two that mount to the frog plate in particular are only held in place by an 1/8" x 1/4" piece of wood. I have not tested my electronics yet, but I anticipate a couple of issues. The first of which is heat buildup. The boards are quite densely populated which doesn't allow heat to dissipate through the circuit board traces like it might normally. As there are connectors on every edge, the high density also makes it more difficult to mount in a way that gives you access to every pin. Also, the atmel chip on the motherboard doesn't look like it got soldered very well. However, I do like the way it all plugs together much better than the makerbot electronics. Cat5 connectors are so bulky and making custom length cat5 cables requires a special crimper.

All in all, I think TechZone is trying to do right. I don't feel like they are outright scammers, but I do feel like they need to get better control over the logistics before doing further business.

I don't really understand what's going on here. Look at 2 years ago with RepRap

Bits From Bytes: Always straight up, if a little less open source
Makerbot: Always straight up, if a little self promoting
Makergear: No "kit" but have never heard a complaint about their service
Ultimachine: Always reliable, if a little vanilla

Then 1 year ago stuff started getting odd.

Profound Devices comes out and has major communications, delivery, and quality issues.
Techzone/Botmill come out and has major communications, delivery, and quality issues.

Feming CNC seems to have done well limiting themselves to only selling what they have
Foton is selling those cast parts like hotcakes, and I have never heard a complaint.

I think we are just seeing the growing pains of the community, I just hope the market punishes the outliers into selling only what they supply, like BfB & Makerbot do.

---

repraplogphase.blogspot.com

Just a brief update:

The extruder kit they sent is incomplete and therefore useless.
Communication remains a one way road, too.

I hassled eBay to get going as I'm really fed up with Techzone.

I'm going to order a RepMan as they are sort of locally based and seem to have a good reputation.

If you are contacting Kimberly, try contacting Lambert instead. Lambert was my initial contact back when their "contact us" website page was working and has done a much better job of responding to emails. If only I had saved that email address, I could have been spared a lot of grief. Since it was looking like TechZone was leaving me hanging, I contacted BotMill hoping that customer service had simply been transfered to a new team. Gil from Botmill informed me that this is not true and went ahead and forwarded my message to Lambert - who just four hours after that contacted me. For anti-spambot reasons, this is mangled but any human needing help should be able to figure it out: lambert /att lambertandrus d0t c0.m.

It's been awhile since anyone has posted on here. I'm thinking of ordering from these folks. Any recent comments ??

thanks

Honestly I haven't seen as many negitive posts about their electronics here lately, don't know if that means they have improved, or people are just going with the cheaper Ramps version.

I have actually seen the wood kits printing, now, but i still read they are a pain to put together.

Personally I would go with the Makergear Prusa kit, but hey, to each their own.

---

repraplogphase.blogspot.com

Techzone shipped me a laser-cut Mendel kit without the ABS filament and spool that I ordered. Emailed TechZone and Lambert came back with a very positive note: They had issues with the supplier of ABS filament and decided to ship me the kit 1st so that I can start building the printer. I was impressed - that was about a month ago. I have yet to receive the ABS filament and spool or receive a shipment tracking number even though Kimber and Lambert promised to send them. Has anyone ordered this recently and successfully receive from TechZone?

Started assembling the kit, noticed the quality of the parts are poor: many supposedly drilled holes are left undrilled. Plastic extruder gears were warped. Missing items: (1) Insufficient screws. (2) PCB mounting board. (3) Z axis belt tensioner & set of parts.

Tried to email them but they will reply only after several emails and many days later. Kimberly explained that my kit is a new design and I should be able to assemble it as it is. She promised to send me photos of how the new design is assembled. Well, it is an empty promise again. I have not heard from Lambert or Kimber from TechZoneCom ever since.

Now I am stuck with a 90% mechanically assembled laser-cut Mendel unable to proceed further. Has anyone managed to contact TechZone successfully recently?

Your order receipt should have a phone number, you should give them a call. I've had great customer service lately and they just brought in another guy to help them out.

I bought an extruder hot end and some plastic from Techzone, the extruder kit was missing the thermocouple, but after one email I got a quick reply and quick replacement part. The plastic is due to be delivered today. Overall the experience has been good. And don't bother warning me about the hot end. I have read all the opinions about it and for me the possible durability issues are outweighed by the price. That is of course my own personal experience and opinion. YMMV.

Bryan

i too have placed an order from them we are still waiting for paypal. but i am glad to see there are more people not having issues with them there hot end was about the only thing i didn't get from them, i just hope i can fit my current extruder onto the frame. if not i will have to bodge something up i think.

---

[mike-mack.blogspot.com]

I bought an complete lasercut Mendel last november. It was pretty easy to assemble, although not all parts were of great quality. The laser cut all the parts under an angle (laser wasn't pointed straight down while cutting the parts. This caused the whole printer to be a bit off, so it was hard to align it all right.
The electronics work fine, but i had to replace both the hot-end and the thermocouple board after about a week of printing.
There was absolutely a lack of communication from techzone, something that does bother me when i just spend 800$.

The printer worked good enough to print myself a Mendel, and now i sold the whole set of lasercut parts and run a Prusa.
see a picture here: